


Ways of Gentleness

by primeideal



Category: Star Child - James P. Hogan
Genre: Gen, M/M, POV Outsider, Robots, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:01:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23376571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/primeideal/pseuds/primeideal
Summary: Cyron and Gallestari are getting married. Explaining their relationship to Merkon was the easy part.
Relationships: Cyron/Gallestari
Comments: 6
Kudos: 4
Collections: Be The First! 2020





	Ways of Gentleness

**Author's Note:**

> In matters of sexuality the mecminds are at best unreliable narrators. They're learning.

"Cyron and Gallestari are to be married," Kort explained. "They wish Taya and some of the other children to be present at the occasion."

"What," asked Thinker, "is married?"

"Marriage is a special type of ceremony that Azureans have to commemorate the relationship between people," said Kort.

"Cyron and Gallestari already had a relationship," said Skeptic. "Why do they need a ceremony?"

"Previously, their relationship was hierarchical. Cyron was the king, and Gallestari took orders from him. Now, they will be in partnership as equals."

"Is Cyron no longer the authority figure?" asked Thinker.

"Maybe they are transitioning to a more egalitarian structure," said Evolutionist.

"That seems inefficient," said Biologist. "Cyron was a very capable leader."

"How so?" said Mystic. "His Azureans nearly destroyed our biopeople."

"Let me put this another way," said Kort. "Azure does not have Evolutionist or Biologist or Engineer to help them grow biobodies, like we do. So when they want to create new biopeople, they have to find another way to do it."

"Why would they want to create new biopeople?" asked Thinker. "They already know how biobodies work."

"Many of the Azureans are frequently deactivated, like Samir," said Mystic. "Maybe they want to keep the population in balance."

"Wouldn't it be easier to build more equipment to stabilize their biobodies?" Engineer asked. "It takes a long time for biopeople to mature."

"The Azureans don't seem to have much in the way of useful equipment," said Skeptic, before breaking off once he'd realized he'd inadvertently bolstered Mystic's argument.

"Then how do they grow people?" Evolutionist asked.

"That is what I have been asking," said Kort. "The Azureans, like our biopeople, come in different types. Women like Taya and Marcala, and men like Eltry--or Cyron or Gallestari."

"But there are many different kinds of biolife," said Evolutionist. "Do the stationary green forms have men and women, too?"

"I'm not sure," said Kort. "I think they are more similar to us. They can do it by having molecules that contain information split off from the ancestor individuals."

"But they're still biolife," Skeptic protested. "Surely they are more similar to the Merkon people than to mecminds."

"I am only summarizing what I have heard from Taya and the others," said Kort. "It is possible that they misunderstood, or that there is an indirect meaning that is difficult to translate from the Leorican language."

"Please continue," said Coordinator.

"To the best of my knowledge, once Azureans stop growing taller, they develop the capacity to reproduce in pairs. When a man and a woman put their sexual organs--the parts that are present in one but not the other--in close contact, they have the ability to create a new bioperson who shares molecules with both of them. That person then must grow from a small collection of cells to an independent mind, the same way Taya and the others did."

"Why would this require multiple biopeople to initiate?" Evolutionist asked.

"Perhaps to facilitate the creation of distinct people," said Mystic. "If each new person had the same chemical information as its originator, they would be difficult to tell apart."

"But we split off from a common algorithm," said Skeptic, "and that didn't require pairs of mecminds."

"What does this have to do with ceremony?" Coordinator asked.

"Pardon me," said Kort. "Historian believes that as Azureans evolved, many of them developed a desire to form exclusive partnerships with one other bioperson. That way, not only could they create new people together, but they could share responsibility for helping the new people grow."

"That seems practical," said Engineer. "The small biopeople were very dependent on us as they grew, even when there was only Taya to consider."

"At some point, the Azureans gave the name 'marriage' to a ceremony symbolizing two people's commitment to one another," said Historian. "It is an important day in the community, because Cyron and Gallestari will now share a residence and many other things in common."

"But Cyron and Gallestari are both men," said Biologist. "How can they make new biopeople together?"

"They can't," said Kort. "But they can still pass down information to people who are growing, through language and through their leadership."

"In addition, their physical prowess and social influence are both considered desirable features on Merkon," said Mystic. "By announcing their commitment to each other, they have increased each other's prominence."

"Kort feels affection for Taya, and he is protective of her," said Thinker. "Do you desire to marry her?"

"I don't think so," said Kort. "I have no interest in touching her sexual organs, even to demonstrate the exclusivity of such a relationship. I suppose if she thought it would be pleasurable, I might consider it, but I have seen nothing to indicate that."

"Is there any risk of harm coming to the Merkon biopeople at the ceremony?" Moralist asked.

"No more so than usual," estimated Biologist.

"Then I say they should attend, if they so choose," he said. "And perhaps if they understand it, they can give a better explanation than Kort."

For once, the mecminds were in agreement.

* * *

"We give thanks," said Serephelio, "for the blessing of peace. We rejoice at the fulfillment of prophecy, and for the gods who have brought untold treasures to our lands. But above all, today, we celebrate the miracle of love, the love that has blossomed between His Majesty Cyron and Gallestari."

Cyron let the seer spout flowery words. He had long held Gallestari in esteem; the man would not have risen to be a mighty general on the Halsabian front otherwise. And only a shrewd warrior who picked his opportunities well could even have come close to overthrowing him; a lesser man would have never have come close to the betrayal Gallestari threatened. That such strong emotion, admiration and jealousy and wariness all mingled together, had given way to devotion was no miracle but rather the ways of humanity.

Besides, Cyron had seen something Serephelio had not: the gods themselves in their divine sanctuary. He had died and entered into their Afterworld, repenting from his folly in the companionship of the royal children and learning the error of his ways. And then, wonder of wonders, Gallestari had too--had died and changed and been restored. Truly, as the prophecy had declared, the warrior kings had learned ways of peace. It was no surprise that they had learned love in their own time.

The god Kort had not troubled the ceremony by descending in a knight's form to Merkon, and Cyron gave thanks. Who was he, that a god should shine in his midst and overshadow him on his own wedding day? No, it was enough to know that the gods had blessed him from afar.

"...and as we honor the union of earth and heaven, time past and time yet to be," said Serephelio, "let us now honor the union of two hearts become one."

For all that Cyron had taught the royal children in the Afterworld, there was much they still did not know of Leorica. Yet those who had graced him by attending understood Serephelio's speech enough to add their applause.


End file.
